Review: 'The Virtuoso' by Grace Burrowes

8:00 AM

Lord Valentine Windham lives to play the piano. While he owns manufacturers that build pianos, his passion lies in playing them. So when his left hand becomes painfully swollen, and won't heal, he doesn't know what to do with himself. The physician, who thinks it is some sort of gout or rheumatism, says he must rest it for months, if he wants any hope of ever playing the piano again.

At a game of cards one night, an arrogant, somewhat desperate Baron Roxbury throws in the deed to a dilapidated estate he owns, to try to win some of his money back. But Valentine is having a winning night and wins that estate easily. Upon Val's inspection, he realizes this estate needs much work, but that is not necessarily a bad thing. He needs something to keep his mind off music, and fixing up the land and house could be a very useful distraction. Unknown to him, there will be a distraction of the female persuasion as well.

Ellen Fitzengle has been a widow for five years. She once lived in the great estate, but after her husband's death she removed herself to a small cottage on the property, making a living selling the fruits, vegetables and plants she grows in her garden. But there is more to Ellen than just a widow and gardener. She has very closely guarded secrets that entangle her with Roxbury and the estate in general.

A year ago, Valentine had visited this property briefly and ended up sharing a very passionate kiss with the widow Ellen, and both have not forgotten it. Now that he is on the property for an extended amount of time, they both enjoy each other's company but they also both keep many secrets.

The Virtuoso is the first I've read of Grace Burrowes, and I find she has a very unique voice. The dialogue between Ellen and Val is so charming, and I really enjoyed how their relationship unfolds. Since they shared that one kiss a year ago, they are not total strangers, but each of them has so much to still learn about the other. At the same time, they both consciously don't reveal all there is of themselves. Val doesn't admit he is a duke's son, and Ellen has some dark secrets that she is unable to verbalize for a long time. But they come to like each other very much, and it just becomes a matter of fully trusting each other before all secrets can be revealed.

As Val works on the estate and becomes involved with Ellen, he finds himself being able to bear the fact that he can't play the piano. However, I think at the very beginning of this book it is so stressed how devastated he is that he can't play, I would have liked to see Val struggle with this a little more than he does. He does have some quiet moments where he reflects on where his life goes from here, but he seems to float into estate renovation mode quite easily, and we don't experience him mourning the piano.

Val isn't the only one suffering in this book. Ellen has a lot to deal with, but this passage really struck me, as she talks about her first marriage:

"We weren't miserable." Ellen found his nipple and bit him through the fabric of his shirt. "But we weren't close, not like the Belmonts are."

"I think few couples are, but you said they disabused you of several illusions." Val made no move to dissuade her from her explorations – for that's what they were. "The first being they reminded you your marriage was not perfect."

"The second being that I am happy here in my gardens with no social life, no real friends, and only a trip to the market or church to mark the passing of my days and weeks and years."

"You are lonely."

"Lonely." Ellen sighed against his throat. "Also just … inconsequential."

I find the hurdle of Ellen thinking she is inconsequential so much larger than just feeling lonely. She can find comfort and companionship in Val during his stay on the estate property, but it takes a lot more than that to feel important, and I like how the author makes her work for that throughout the book.

The romance in this is really quite sensual, and Grace Burrowes lets these two take their time in exploring each other on a physical level. It lends a bit of an erotic twist to an otherwise sweeter book, which I find enjoyable.

The supporting characters add a lot to this story and I also think the villain is done well. When the reveal comes to Ellen's secrets, it is dramatic enough where I believed in Ellen's fear of telling people her truths. Overall, an enjoyable read. and I look forward to more from Grace Burrowes.

Don't miss HEA's interview with Grace, in which she says about the self-pubbed e-books craze: "Anything that increases the opportunity for non-violent creative self-expression is a good thing."

Comment

USA TODAY is now using Facebook Comments on our stories and blog posts to provide an enhanced user experience. To post a comment, log into Facebook and then "Add" your comment. To report spam or abuse, click the "X" in the upper right corner of the comment box. To find out more, read the FAQ and Conversation Guidelines.